Our Mission is to nurture abused and neglected children through collaboration, advocacy, treatment, and prevention.

We are a child-oriented facility, which serves as a centralized location for interviewing and examining children who are victims of physical and sexual abuse.
Our main focus is the health and wellness of the child. Members of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) help the child and family cope with the abuse and begin the recovery process.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking, or "modern-day slavery," affects nearly 2 million people worldwide each year. Victims can be men, women or children and are often forced, through sexual, physical and/or psychological violence, to perform work under slavery-like conditions.

The national, toll-free hotline is available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. All reports are confidential and you may remain anonymous.

If you or someone you know is in inmediate danger, please call 911.

According to Ohio's Human Trafficking Taskforce, Human Trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery when people profit from the control and exploitation of others.

Victims are trapped or deceived by traffickers through force, fraud, trickery, or coercive threats. Even if victims initially consent, they do not realize that later they will be treated most cruelly and exploited for labor and/or commercial sex.

Children and adults who are sold into prostitution, pornography, and sex entertainmentare victims of sex trafficking. "Traffickers" can be family members, boyfriends, or pimps who profit through this exploitation. It is common for underage children to be sold by the hour for $400 or more with the average age of initiation into prostitution being 13 years old.

America’s fascination with pornography and prostitution is linked to demand. Those who purchase sex or pornography are fueling the commercial sex industry and contributing to the exploitation of America’s children. Buyers are all ages, occupations, socioeconomic levels, and ethnicities.

Children and adults who are exploited through extremely low or unpaid labor are victims of labor trafficking. They can be found working in agriculture, factories, sweatshops, childcare, landscaping, food service, and other activities.

The ratio of sex workers to laborers around the world is 1:9.

If you think Human trafficking does not happen in Ohio, think again. Criminals who are involved in trafficking other human beings prey upon those already at risk. Each year, an estimated 1,078 Ohio children become human trafficking victims. This does not include the 3,016 more children who are at risk.

Why Ohio:

Ohio has an extensive interstate system, with 5 that intersect at different points in the state

Ohio is easily accessible from Canada through Michigan

Ohio has the most truck stops in the U.S.

Much of the sex trafficking of minors happens at truck stops

Ohio has the fifth most strip clubs in the U.S.

Ohio has high levels of poverty and was ranked 42 out of 50 in “children’s vulnerability to homelessness.”

Ohio is within a one day drive to many major cities in the U.S. including Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and New York City

*Statistics from ODJFS Foster Care ParentTraining and Shared Hope International

Possible Warning Signs of Human Trafficking:

Significantly older boyfriend

Submissive, afraid, nervous

Travel with older male (not guardian)

Chronic runaway

Multiple delinquent charges

Homelessness

Specially marked tattoos

Substance abuse

History of sexual abuse or rape

Difficulty in school or dropping out

Show signs of physical or mental abuse

Avoid eye contact and conversations

Fearful of law enforcement

Has expensive clothing or jewelry (which does not fit age and social history)

If you think you may have come in contact with a victim of human trafficking or you, yourself may be a victim, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at: 1-888-3737-888. You may remain anonymous. Please call 911 if an emergent situation.

Get More Involved:

The Medina County Coalition Against Human Trafficking is a group of concerned individuals who have come together to raise awareness and educate the Medina community about Human Trafficking. The group is also creating a Medina County network of local agencies to respond and help trafficked victims.

If you would like to help end human trafficking, please join us by attending a general meeting. We meet the fourth Thursday of each month at 9:00 A.M. at the Medina County Health Department.